


The Secret of Notre Dame

by iloveitblue



Series: Prompts [348]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: M/M, another - Freeform, wing fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-08
Updated: 2016-02-08
Packaged: 2018-05-19 04:39:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5953933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iloveitblue/pseuds/iloveitblue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The one where Clint is the monster that hides in Notre Dame.</p><p>(He isn't a hunchback. and no, Phil isn't Esmeralda.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Secret of Notre Dame

**Author's Note:**

> Monster. Deformed. Ugly.

These are the words his parents had branded him with. These are the words he thought were true about himself. These were the words that Phil wished to rid from him, not just because these words were cruel but also because they were completely untrue.

If Phil had the chance, he’d go back in time to, just once, punch Clint’s parents in the face. Clint was far from these words, in fact, if someone asked him to describe his friend, he’d choose more suitable words like,

Charming. Graceful. Beau- um. Kind. 

These were definitely words that fit his friend better. But Clint, poor, sweet, innocent Clint, would not believe him. He always chose to laugh whenever Phil insisted that he was hand- um. Kind. Damn it.

“Good Morning.” Phil greeted as he climbed the steps of what Clint called his home, at the very top of the bell tower.   


Clint stretched his arms high over his head, his back to Phil, his lithe body bowing in a way that was sure to appear in Phil’s dreams, and his wings, oh dear lord, his wings. His wings spread out in its full length, displaying its beauty for a moment before they folded themselves again behind Clint.

“Good Morning, Phil.” Clint greeted back, grinning at his friend. “You’re pretty early today. I wasn’t expecting you until sundown.” 

“Would it have mattered?” Phil asked, placing the basket of bread and cheese he brought with him on the table.  


“Well, for starters, I would have cleaned up.” Clint scratched the back of his head sheepishly as he sat opposite Phil.  


“Oh, please. You’ve never bothered to clean knowing I was visiting before, what’s changed?” Phil broke the bread and handed Clint half of it, while Clint sliced the cheese. 

Clint hummed. “That is blatantly untrue and I take offense in that. Why, just yesterday I folded my sheets.” 

Phil rolled his eyes, “Well then, I feel honored.” 

Clint chuckled, and ate his breakfast. “Seriously though, why are you here so early in the morning?” 

“Nick doesn’t need me in the bakery until later this afternoon, so I had some free time. I thought I should bring you food. I know how much you liked the bread from the bakery.” Phil shrugged.  


Clint paused. “You mean, you’re staying here the whole morning?”   


Phil furrowed his brows, he wasn’t really expecting this sort of reaction from Clint. He thought he’d be more ecstatic. “I- I can leave, if you want me to. I didn’t mean to-”

“No. Nonono, I- I didn’t mean for it to sound like I was trying to make you leave. It’s just- you haven’t stayed longer than two hours since we were children. I just- It was just surprise.” Then, with a more sincere tone, “Trust me, I want you here.”

Phil smiled in return, “So, will today be the day?” Phil asked to change the mood.

“The day for what?” Clint seemed a little frazzled by the question, but that might just be Phil’s imagination.  


“Are you ready to fly?”  


Clint huffed in that way he always does whenever they talked about this. “I can’t fly.”

“You sure?” Phil gave him a mock-shocked expression, and looked out the window. The sun was shining bright and there were enough clouds in the sky for the day to just be cool instead of warm. “Good day to try. Why, if I picked a day to fly, this would be it.”  


It was Clint’s turn to roll his eyes at Phil. “You say that everyday, Phil. Literally, everyday.” 

“Well, I’d stop saying it if you at least tried it. Your wings are strong enough to carry you, I’m sure.” Phil insisted, like he has everyday for the past thirteen years.

“My wings are not for flying, you know that.” Clint reminded him, he doesn’t mention that the wings were a grim reminder of the affair his mother had with an angel. He hasn’t for the last twelve years.  


“What are wings, if not for flying.” Phil shrugged again.   


“Chickens have wings, Phillip. Why not make them fly?”  


“You think I haven’t thrown a chicken off the roof?”  


“And?”  


“The chicken flew.” Phil nodded. “For a second. before falling to the ground. It’s okay though.”  


“Well that’s a relief.” Clint said sarcastically. “I’m still not going to jump out the window though.”   


“No one’s asking you to. Just try flapping your wings to see if you get off the ground.” Clint sighed, a clear sign that he was about to fold, so Phil did what he knew Clint couldn’t say no to. “Please?”

“You’re supposed to be the mature one in this friendship.” Clint pointed out but stood up anyway.   


Phil grabbed the notebook he kept in the basket and paged through his notes. He’d been studying about birds for a few months, and he just might have figured out how to get Clint off of the ground. 

“Bend your knees, and tuck your wings in.” Phil instructed, “Just as you your feet is about to leave the ground, your wings should be up, then when you jump, pull your wings down, that’ll make sure you get enough draft under your wings to take off.”

“When’d you learn all this?” Clint asked, even as he had his knees bent.

“I had some free time, so I visited Anthony.” Phil waved his hand dismissively. 

“You hate Tony.”   


“I don’t hate him. I just don’t care for him as much as I do for the others.”   


“In Phil-speak, that’s equivalent to hate.”  


“Are you going to try or not?”   


“Here goes.”   


For one horrible second, as Phil watched Clint’s wings unfold, he thought that it wouldn’t work, that Clint would only end up jumping in place rather than actually flying, but a gust of wind, dust everywhere, and another second later, Clint was off the ground. 

“Clint! Open your eyes!” Phil yelled happily as he watched his friend floating in the tiny space that is the top of the bell tower.   


Clint peered a little before his eyes widened in shock. “I’m flying. Oh my god. I’m flying, Phil!” Clint moved forward clumsily at first, but quickly got the hang of it, like he was born to fly.

 _He probably was,_  Phil thought to himself. Soon enough Clint was whooshing by and flying around the bells of Notre Dame like he’d been doing it his entire life. Phil watched happily from the ground, listening to the whoops of joy and excitement his friend was making. This was probably the happiest day of his life. 

Clint whooshed past once more, messing the room up even more than it already was. Phil shook his head fondly and grabbed a stray blanket that had fallen to the floor. He was going to put it back on Clint’s work table when he noticed the wooden structure there.

It was a carving of the town. Notre Dame stood tall and proud, and around it were the small houses. Nick’s bakery was even there. Down in the town, there were standing wooden dolls, just about the size of Phil’s palm, that looked like him. There was a Nick-doll too. And a Tony-doll, A Steve-doll, A Pepper-doll… Everyone was there.

It was an exact replica of everything that Clint could see from the bell tower. 

Except.

Phil peered into the wooden Notre Dame and found the missing doll there, hiding in the shadows of the tower. 

“It was supposed to be a surprise.” Phil turned around to find Clint standing behind him, looking down at the floor. “I was going to finish it this morning and give it to you this afternoon.”

Phil looked at the beautifully carved doll in his hand, the one of Clint, and smiled. 

“I know its not much, and its a gift for children, but I couldn’t think of anything else. I was going to make the tower ring like the real Notre Dame-”  


Phil reached out to him and hugged the man tightly. “It’s perfect. Thank you.” He pulled away with a smile before it turned into a confused frown. “But why the extravagant gift?”

Clint laughed loudly, using Phil’s shoulder’s to steady himself. “It’s your birthday, you idiot.” 

“Oh. I thought that was next week.”   


“You’re getting old. I’ll forgive you for your forgetfulness.” Clint teased.  


Phil punched him in the shoulder in retaliation. 

**Author's Note:**

> [Here on tumblr](http://promptmephlint.tumblr.com/post/138941581611/more-monster-deformed-ugly-these-are-the)


End file.
